Now, the prime minister Topolánek  is getting sued for saying this: "Češi obvykle ale vidí všechno negativně a když k něčemu dojde, podělají se".  read more »

The divorces and planned re-marriages (to their respective mistresses) of premier Mirek Topolánek and ex-premier Jiří Paroubek have been in and out of the news for quite a few months now; below is one report among many from Paroubek's saga. Overall the Czechs' attitude towards the sex lives of their politicians is quite "European," that is, much more forgiving than the Americans'. There is the occasional columnist who thinks otherwise, though. I'm undecided, myself.
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I homosexuální páry můžou vychovávat děti - iDNES.cz
I dva homosexuální muži mají šanci legálně vychovávat dítě. Tou možností je pěstounská péče. Zatímco české zákony zakazují gay párům adoptovat dítě, pěstounskou péči mají povolenou stejně jako smíšená manželství.

Czech law does not allow for gay couples to adopt but it is possible for them to become foster parents. This article describes the first gay couple who is going through the approval process.  read more »

Tiscali Europa It's not all beer and the Vltava you know... Ten countries in Central Europe and the Mediterranean joined the European Union in 2004 - how well do you know them? Can you tell a Becherovka from a Jan Huss? Or a Škoda from a Schroeder? Try your luck with our great photo quizzes... but make a mistake and you get sent back to the beginning!

Tiscali Europe has provided this fun quiz on what is important to know about the Czech Republic. They hit many of the major points (although they  read more »

Czechs give go-ahead for US 'son of star wars' base | Special reports | Guardian Unlimited
The Czech government has announced that it wants to host a large US military site for the Pentagon's much-criticised missile shield system, confirming for the first time that Washington had asked Prague for permission to build a radar site for the national missile defence programme.

Not much to say. The long fascination of the Czech Republic with the US continues. Of course, there's also the visa problem...

Političek v Praze přibývá - www.lidovky.cz PRAHA 10. ledna 2007 | 14:54 Karlovy Vary, Zlín, Havířov, Chomutov. Tam všude sedí v primátorském křesle ženy. Praha zatím nikdy svou primátorku neměla. Podle stoupajícího počtu žen v zastupitelstvu i podle přání veřejnosti se ale možná hlavní město v nedaleké budoucnosti své ženy v čele dočká.

Four important Czech municipalities (two in Bohemia and two in Moravia) are headed by a woman holding the post of primátor (mayor) or in their case primátorka. And there is a good chance that in the future Prague could join them.  read more »

Czech bid to end political crisis - CNN.com
PRAGUE, Czech Republic (Reuters) -- Czech President Vaclav Klaus named a new government led by rightist Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek on Tuesday as the EU member tries to extract itself from a seven-month crisis sparked by an inconclusive election.

Topolanek has formed a three-party coalition with the centrist Christian Democrats, the Green Party and his own rightist Civic Democrats.

But the grouping has only 100 seats in the 200-seat parliament, while leftists also control 100 seats, the results of an inconclusive election last June.

The constitution calls for a confidence vote to be held within 30 days but Topolánek has said he would move faster.

We'll see how long the government will last but it seems that Czechs have been managing without it quite nicely. As this Independent article points out. The outlook is not particularly rosy:

IOL: New Czech government unlikely to end crisis
But analysts said even if Topolanek gets the simple majority needed to survive the vote, the hung parliament will make it difficult for him to push through his programme of tax and spending reforms, welfare cuts and new healthcare user fees.

Every fourth Czech tried drug - poll in press - Prague Daily Monitor Prague, Jan 6 (CTK) - About 22 percent of Czechs have tried a drug at least once in their hitherto life, the share being 40 percent in the 18 to 24 years age category, according to a poll carried out by the Health Information and Statistics Institute. ... The poll at the same time revealed that Czechs are not tolerant of drugs, and a mere 17 percent of them would agree with marijuana´s legalisation.  read more »

Gay Marriages Growing In Czech Republic - World News - Playfuls.com - Business & World
More than 200 gay and lesbian couples registered their partnerships in the Czech Republic in the past six months, Prague Radio said Tuesday.

Jiri Hromada, of the Gay Initiative, said his non-governmental organization had expected "much less interest" in registered same-sex marriages, the Czech Mlada Fronta Dnes newspaper reported.

Czech Republic enters 2007 with 200 gay couples more (up from zero) than last year. What surprises me is that the number is relatively small and that the Gay Initiative expected even less. Part of the problem may be that gay unions are denied the right to adopt children.  read more »

FOCUS Information Agency Prague. In his New Year’s Eve address Czech President Vaclav Klaus criticized those responsible for the political crisis in the country, describing it as “civil cold war”, AFP informs. “We did not manage to get through the situation, which looks more or less like “cold war”,” Klaus said. The political crisis has been continuing for seven months now after the right and left wings won nearly equal number of votes at June’s parliamentary elections.

Alliteration aside, thi  read more »

Schwarzenberg a Klausovo čecháčkovství - www.lidovky.cz
Samozřejmě, že by byl schopen, kdyby chtěl. Avšak o smyslu Klausova výroku vypovídá jeho pokračování: „Každý člověk (...) se na to díval s pootevřenou pusou. Myslím, že to je všeobecný názor v této zemi, žádné specifikum Václava Klause.“ Kdo je ten „každý člověk“, který vyjadřuje „všeobecný názor v této zemi“? To je přece známý činitel českých dějin, pro kterého literární historik Václav Černý vymyslel název „Čecháček“: Ten, kdo se umí vždy včas přikrčit a včas kopnout do holeně a včas podat přihlášku do správné strany; kdo poměřuje své „my“, „my, kdo jsme Češi“, svojí „žabí perspektivou“ - do které se mu nevejde nikdo, kdo ji jakýmkoliv směrem překračuje: ani šlechtici, ani Němci, ani Židé, ani Cikáni, ani kněží, ani homosexuálové, ani disidenti. „Čecháček“ je rub české národní povahy, nad kterým zoufají národní buditelé - ale kterého umějí geniálně využívat demagogové.  read more »